Postmortem
by loomweaver
Summary: In order to arrive to the core truth of the situation, you must first dissect it.


The harsh sun of Nevada desert was doing no wonders for the old man's health, and yet, for the first time in many decades, Delta couldn't help but feel truly excited.

His multi-layered gambit that involved manipulating alternate histories had finally succeeded. All the necessary elements were in their proper places. The presence of multiple SHIFTers ensured the morphogenetic field resonance. The Desert Eagle in Carlos's hand introduced the element of danger into the equation. All he now needed was to wait for an epiphany to occur.

Of course, there was always a possibility that he would fail to SHIFT and wind up dead. But when one dealt with multiple alternate timelines, what was possible was no longer an issue. His success was inevitable, and the alternate Deltas that failed were acceptable losses - even if he wound up being one of them.

* * *

While Dio was no longer restrained by a pair of handcuffs attached to a sink, his fate was still unenviable. Due to his involvement with _that_ woman, closely followed by the failure to stop the AB Project, it was unlikely he would be welcomed by his comrades in Free the Soul, much less Brother himself. He had nowhere to go, not that he was ever given a choice to leave.

After the conclusion of AB Project, Dr. Sigma Klim decided that Dio was more useful as an (albeit unwilling) source of information about Free the Soul's operations.

That left Dio as a de-facto prisoner of Rhizome 9, leaving neither of the parties involved happy with the arrangement. Dio stubbornly refused to reveal any knowledge of Free the Soul's inner workings (not that he actually knew much), while the residents of Rhizome 9 had one more security risk to constantly worry about.

Confined to a small holding cell, there was little Dio could do to work towards his freedom, and with every day that passed, he couldn't help but reflect upon the chain of events that led him to his current situation.

_If only he never got involved with _that _woman..._

_If only he managed to successfully murder Akane Kurashiki..._

_If only Sigma never disarmed the antimatter bombs..._

The thoughts crowded Dio's mind, leaving him no escape from self-pity and doubt, and yet he found himself reevaluating Brother's motivation to send him to disrupt the AB Project.

While he was an arrogant man with an inflated sense of self-importance, time spent within the confines of his cell tempered his expectations. Dio no longer held any illusions about his actual worth. If preventing the success of AB Project was such an important mission (which Akane Kurashiki insinuated painfully clear during the frequent interrogation sessions Dio was subjected to), why was it entrusted to him, a man who committed a grave sin by going against Free the Soul's core tenets?

What was so important about him to warrant sending him on a suicide mission? As far as he knew, there was nothing special about him. Just another clone of Left loyal to Brother's cause, if a little more creative than his comrades.

At least, as far as he knew. He always thought it strange that Brother was able to preserve Left's DNA throughout the 1900s well enough for it to be used as cloning material. But then again, he was by no means an expert on the subject.

Maybe he was looking at this the wrong way. Maybe the fact that he was a sinner in the eyes of Brother made him a perfect candidate. A disposable pawn who was never meant to succeed. And yet a nagging feeling never left Dio's mind that maybe, just maybe he was missing a crucial detail in the picture.

* * *

Akane Kurashiki was no longer the young and optimistic girl she was fifty years ago.

While even in her teens Akane demonstrated a ruthless and calculating nature (because, let's face it, a different kind of person would be unable to organize and see to their successful completion the Nonary Games), it was after the humanity's downfall caused by the Radical-6 that said ruthless nature became her main modus operandi.

Naivete was replaced by the cold-hearted cynicism. Whatever romantic feelings she had left towards Junpei, in the aftermath of what happened at the Dcom, were no longer present.

And while the AB Project was a resounding success, she would never see its fruits, stuck as she was in the timeline where she failed to prevent the Radical-6 outbreak.

That said, she still was one of the leaders of Crash Keys. She was still motivated to destroy Free the Soul, or, failing that, prevent them from extending their reach upon the remains of humanity.

Speaking of which, it was time for the daily interrogation.

After giving a curt order to the Lagomorph to pacify the prisoner, she headed for the detention cell where Dio was located. Of course, she made sure to observe all the necessary precautions before entering the cell. After all, it wouldn't do for the leader of Crash Keys to manage to live to her sixties, and then die like a dog to some worthless clone.

When she took a step inside, Dio was still unconscious from the Soporil-β injected into the cell's ventilation system by the Lagomorph. All she had to do was to properly restrain him, and await for his awakening.

* * *

As she witnessed the calm, collected smile on Dio's face - a far cry from his usual forced, arrogant, almost feral grin he usually had - she couldn't help but reach for the stun prod hidden in one of the pockets of her dress, one of the numerous reassurances of her continued safety.

She knew it was irrational, and yet she couldn't help but feel the wrongness of the expression on the man's face.

"Ah, Ms. Kurashiki, correct? A surprise, to be sure, but not an entirely unwelcome one", Dio drawled in a flat monotone, his choice of words and tone completely uncharacteristic for him. "There is no need to worry. Perhaps you should calm down before you do something we all will regret."

Akane's eyes widened as she realized the reason for the change in the man in front of her, She was in a situation with an unknown variable, which made it unacceptably dangerous. She immediately reached for the taser again, fully intent on knocking whoever it was that was borrowing Dio's body unconscious, and yet her fingers failed to grasp on anything.

"As expected of someone of your caliber, Ms. Kurashiki", Dio drawled again, his voice containing the barest hint of amusement. "For you to intuit the situation with nothing but a hunch is nothing short of amazing."

Akane could do nothing but stand there, petrified, unable to move or talk, as she stared, completely terrified of a man who was restrained to a chair with multiple pairs of handcuffs, and who was by all accounts unable of causing her harm even if he wanted to. She could only pray that Lagomorph would figure out the situation, and release the Soporil-β into the cell.

"I doubt that would actually do anything of consequence", Dio answered her thoughts. "But of course, you are welcome to try."

Akane blinked, realizing what just happened. Was the man actually reading her thoughts? And how was he able to prevent her from moving? That was hardly fair.

"You will find, Ms. Kurashiki, that life is simply unfair, don't you think?"


End file.
